The following Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson,

and is narrated by Tina Lehman.

15 alternatives to sitting meditation.

No longer the sole province of the Hemp's swathed

sprouting enthusiast, meditation's popularity has exploded across our collective faces. Tech

companies have embraced mindfulness meditation as the ultimate productivity. Google has mindful

lunches, complete with prayer bells

and hour-long vows of silence.

And as legitimate meditation researchers uncover more benefits

to our brains, our bodies, and our psyches,

die-hard rationalists have been forced to accept

the scientific merits of mindfulness.

My explanation for why interest in meditation has grown is that it's a replacement for the nature in which we no longer reside.

For hundreds of thousands of years, we spent our days in natural settings where much of the mind chatter stops, and we exist in the present moment.

The falling leaves sparkling overhead with sunlight, the herky-jerk scamper of a startled lizard

just off the trail, the erratic, brilliant butterfly fluttering through the scene that you can't

help but stop to watch. That was life for most of human

history. It wasn't special. It was home. It was what we knew. Meditation represents a return to that

ancestral state of presence in the moment. And yet, I get the sense that more people are talking about

meditation than actually meditating on a regular basis.

I'm one of them, quick to recommend meditation on MDA because of the irrefutable benefits,

but unable to actually sit for a productive session, let alone a regular meditation routine.

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